ASTANA, Kazakhstan, April 7 (UPI) -- Expatriate workers for BG Group and Italy's Eni are subject to deportation for alleged violations of immigration laws, the Kazakh government claims.
Government lawyers in Astana are investigating 270 employees working at the giant Karachaganak oil field for alleged violations regarding work permits and visas, the Financial Times reports. Seven expatriate workers were sued already for immigration violations.
For their part, BG Group and Eni, along with several other foreign companies, are charged with tax evasion and environmental negligence, the Times added.
The Karachaganak oil field is the only non-state operation in the country. Astana handed development of the field over to foreign companies in the 1990s during national economic decline.
Astana in March, the Times said, accused BG Group and Eni of taking in around $700 million from oil sales that exceeded the terms of its contract for Karachaganak.
The Karachaganak field, discovered in 1979, is producing around 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day currently.
Neither BG Group nor Eni has issued a formal statement on the claims.
